New Parliament Building takes shape

FEASIBILITY studies for a new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden, some 14km from Harare's CBD, have been completed with actual building expected to start this year instead of in 2017, The Sunday Mail has learnt.

Over the past two years, Chinese engineers have been shuttling in and out of Zimbabwe for work related to the building and are now finalising a report expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2016.

Once the feasibility report is out, the Chinese government is expected to float a construction tender to select a company to build the multi-million dollar legislative chamber.

Initial indications were that baseline and architectural studies would be conducted this year so that construction could start in 2017.

However, the trajectory changed when China's President Xi Jinping visited Zimbabwe in December and directed acceleration of the project.

The grant aid-funded project will see the construction of a new Parliament Building with capacity to hold 500 legislators. The current building in Harare's CBD is crowded since recent expansion of the size of the National Assembly from 210 to 270 members.

The Secretary for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Engineer George Mlilo, said the actual project cost will only be known when the tender process is complete.

"We met the Chinese technical team for further feasibility studies last year and we gave them information as far as feasibility studies are concerned," he said. "There is a process under which these grants go through in China and so the processes of the grant programmes is what we are going through at the moment.

"The technical team should be reverting to us in first quarter of this year for whatever requirements that may be left or that they may need. These are the processes that we are waiting for and they will advice when they are ready.

"While the technical processes are being finalised the tender processes will be going through in China. Tenders for grant aided projects are done in China and are given to Chinese companies.

"However it is important to note that before the Chinese leader came last year, 2016 had been earmarked for feasibility studies of the parliament building and the construction would start in 2017, but then the Chinese leader came and this all changed since this is one of the programmes which is grant-aided."

The relocation of Parliament will spur the local economy as other structures and services will follow to Mt Hampden.

The area will have recreational areas, banking halls, a residential area, state-of-the-art shopping centres, hotels and Government buildings.

Urban planning expert Mr Percy Toriro said, "Zimbabweans must now strategically position themselves to do infrastructure development work as either main contractors, or come in as sub-contractors.

A development of that nature and magnitude presents lots of opportunities that we must be on the lookout for."

The new Parliament Building is one of 12 mega-deals signed between China and Zimbabwe last year.

The deals cover key sectors such as infrastructure, telecommunications and energy.

In 2007, the Chinese government funded construction of a new parliament building in Lesotho at a cost of US$9 million through Shandong Yantai Construction Company. The building was completed in 2012.